Some Aspects of Wood Machinability Studies

Machinability refers to the ability of a tool to cut and the ability of wood to be cut. Though production experience is important in determining machinability, careful analysis of the rudiments of the problem must also be undertaken. In this country a modest amount of machinability research has been carried on in government and uriversity laboratories and occasionally in industrial plants. Studies have been reported by E. M. Davis of the Forest Products Laboratory in 1942, and also by Telford, Fleischer, Reineke, Patronsky, and others. Studies in the Wood Technology Laboratory of the University of Michigan were begun in the 1930’s. Both a theoretical and a practical approach have been undertaken to seek out the basic factors of machining. Areas of investigation include the relationship between the physical and structural properties of wood and the way it cuts; the kinematics of tool paths (the motion of the cutter as it travels through the wood); the measurement of energy or power requirements of cutting (either forces required to remove an individual chip or the energy conversion in a machine operating under given conditions); the cutting condition and design of tools; and, the analysis of the surface quality of machined wood. To deal with machinability production processes such as planing, sawing, and shaping in the laboratory, it is necessary to use standard production machinery.

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